


Just Like Prague

by EmmaDeMarais



Category: Instinct (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-23 00:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17070320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaDeMarais/pseuds/EmmaDeMarais
Summary: The dangers of the spy trade catch up to Dylan and Julian and their new lives - and loves - in NYC.





	Just Like Prague

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Stratisphyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stratisphyre/gifts).



Dylan woke each morning immediately alert and ready to go, much to sleepy Andy’s annoyance on Sunday mornings after a late night at the bar.

Not this morning.

This morning felt like wading through molasses in world of eternal gray.

Drugs, he decided eventually. This wasn’t waking from sleep, it was waking from forced unconsciousness via drugs. 

He tried to go on alert, but his body and mind failed to respond with the briskness that had made him a top agent in the CIA. So he had to settle for whatever each of his senses could manage to provide in terms of information.

Hearing: Distant industrial noise… A factory? When more fine-tuned, the sound of breathing, not his own, finally revealed itself. He was not alone. Friend or foe yet to be determined. It would not be the first time someone set to guard him fell asleep, most famously back in Gujrat.

Sight: No blindfold, but no light either. Small space most likely. A room, not open warehouse space.

Smell: An acrid scent… some sort of solvent. Further away, the dull stench of hot machinery that defines many factories.

Taste: His mouth felt clean yet dry. Most likely he’d brushed his teeth and not eaten since then so after midnight and before dawn’s morning breath. 

Touch: Not handcuffed or bound, which was a bit of a surprise. The floor beneath was concrete and the cold of it has seeped into his stiff limbs. Likely he’d been out cold and laying on the floor for at least an hour.

Patting himself down was fruitful as well. He recognized the suit as being the one he donned most recently so no real lost time. No phone, no keys, though his wallet remained. He also discovered his gun was missing.

“Shit…” he murmured under his breath.

“Ah… Awake finally? I’ve been dreadfully bored waiting for you to come ‘round.”

Dylan turned towards the voice even though he couldn’t see anything.

“Julian?”

“Yes, as before, we’re in this together.”

Dylan let out a long breath. “Can I just say this is a part of the job I really didn’t miss?”

“It’s Bani Walid all over again.”

“No,” Dylan countered. “We weren’t drugged then.”

“Fine,” Julian droned. “To-may-toe, To-mah-toe, To-ron-to… We’re just as stuck in small dank room though.”

“What do we know?” Dylan asked trying harder to take in his surroundings despite the lack of light.

“Industrial building, probably a factory…” Julian ticked off the facts, “Pre-dawn, no days lost… Drugged only for convenience… They took our weapons but not our wallets, so they know who we are already…”

“And isn’t that a sobering thought.” Dylan stood carefully and stretched. “So much for leaving this life behind me.”

“I did warn you about all that foolishness with the publicist and that magazine article, didn’t I?” Julian chastened.

“I just didn’t think…” Dylan ran a hand through his hair. “God, I hope Andy isn’t involved in this.”

“If he isn’t now, he will be soon enough,” Julian said, his tone softening. “A person such as yourself does not fall out of circulation for long without being missed. As for myself?” Julian paused for a second. “Well, let’s just say I have certain safeguards in place should I fail to be at my station as scheduled each day.”

“So, you ready to get started?”

“Plotting our escape?” Julian huffed out a chuckle. “Thought you’d never ask.”

He rose as well, and they systematically began to explore the confines of the room they were in, working wordlessly until they completed their survey.

“Not good,” Dylan groused. “The room’s completely empty, nothing to work with, to use as a tool to bust the door open…”

“It’s as if they knew us and how resourceful we can be.”

Dylan could hear the tiny hint of real concern behind Julian’s sarcasm. If they were indeed being held by someone who knew their background as spies? It made the dangers of working with the NYPD seem pedestrian by comparison.

“So, what’s the plan?” Dylan asked, trying to sound casual. “We need to come up with something better than ‘whoever opens the door we jump them’.”

Julian swore under his breath in something that sounded like Farsi.

“This is just like Prague.”

“No, it’s not!” Dylan’s voice went high, his obstinance clear.

“Now, now,” Julian chastened, teasingly. “Let’s not argue, darling. Who knows? These might be our last words to each other.”

Dylan sank down to the floor, heart heavy with worry.

“What if this is it? If I never see Andy again? If he never finds out what happened to me? That I just disappeared on him?”

He felt the comforting weight of Julian’s hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll get out of this. We always do. If they just leave us alone until 10AM my protocol will kick in and we’ve got a much better chance of being found.”

“What are the odds our captors are going to sleep late?” Dylan asked, shaking his head. “This is worse than Prague.”

“Well, we don’t know yet if our tale has a happy ending,” Julian countered. “For all we know…” 

A loud crashing noise interrupted Julian and they both ran to take places on either side of the door, prepared for whatever might come crashing through any second.

Sounds of yelling in the distance mixed with a smattering of gunfire then just yelling.

Amidst the voices one stood out: a woman’s voice, familiar, bringing a rush of joy with it.

“Dylan! Julian!” 

“In here!” Dylan yelled as Julian banged on the door with his fists. “We’re here!”

“Clear!” “Clear!” “All clear!” 

They could hear voices and clanking sounds outside the door and they both stood back and waited.

Finally the door swung open violently, bringing with it blinding lights that made Dylan wince.

But the slender figure outlined in the doorway was certainly worth it: Lizzie.

She ran to Dylan first, embracing him tightly yet quickly, then running to Julian who enveloped her in his arms, holding her close with such force it seemed Lizzie’s tiny form was engulfed by his desperation.

“It’s safe, bring him in,” Dylan heard a voice say, but before he could ask who they meant Andy burst through the doorway and was suddenly kissing his face like he thought he’d never see it again.

“Don’t you do that to me!” Andy’s terse whispers were accompanied by tears barely held back by wet lashes. “Don’t you ever leave me like that again!”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Dylan tried to soothe his anxious husband, threading gentle finger through his hair, pressing kisses to his temples, holding him as if he’d never let go… “I never meant to hurt you like this. I’m so very sorry.”

Dylan let the SWAT team members escort them all out of the building where the detectives stood waiting, as if in vigil, to make sure their teammate was safe. Dylan managed a few nods to them in thanks but wasn’t ready to let go of Andy yet.

They stood outside an NYPD van waiting to leave, the four of them huddled together so that Lizzie could reach Dylan’s hand to hold while still remaining in Julian’s embrace.

“How did you find us?” Dylan managed to ask her eventually.

“We found you,” Andy corrected. “Lizzie and I worked together once we figure out something was seriously wrong.”

Dylan’s forehead furrowed. “So what, you used your law school skills? I don’t follow.” 

Lizzie spoke up to explain. “I found out about Julian’s protocols one day when he stayed over so long he almost didn’t reset them on time. I asked about them and he told me how they worked.” 

“We figured out you were in trouble by 2AM,” Andy continued. “So we needed a way to trip the protocols 8 hours in advance. My old law firm has a white hat hacker on retainer, so I pulled some strings and got him to help us.” 

“No way some everyday hacker breaks into my system!” Julian protested, indignant.

“We didn’t have to break in,” Andy clarified. “We just needed a way to make your computer think it was a different time. So he hacked the servers that supply time to systems online. We knew it worked since one of the first things the protocol does is call Lizzie and Dylan’s numbers.”

“It also sends the access information for the tracker in my shoes to Dylan’s computer.” Julian tilted his head, confused. “But Dylan was here with me.”

“Yeah, about that…” Andy scratched his head, looking meek. “Dylan, maybe you’re not as careful with your passwords as you used to be back in your spy days? I’ve known your computer password for months now.”

“But…” Dylan gaped. “How…” 

“Let’s just say you trust me being close to you now, so much that sometimes you don’t even notice.” Andy grinned at him and Dylan just laughed at that familiar face he loved so dearly.

“Well, I for one am happy you two lovebirds have grown so cozy.” Julian clasped a hand on Andy’s shoulder, his expression turning serious in his gratitude. “Thank you, really. Thank you.”

An officer showed up to unlock the van and usher them inside.

“A hopefully quick debrief then we’ll all get to take a day off,” Lizzie promised.

“The bar!” Dylan turned to Andy. “You have to open the bar later.”

“Not today,” Andy took Dylan’s hand and squeezed it. “I already told my newly minted assistant manager the bar was her responsibility until further notice so I’m thinking maybe more than one day off sounds good.”

“I knew he was the smart one between you too,” Julian taunted.

“I don’t know, Julian,” Dylan said, looking adoringly between his love and his partner, Lizzie. “I’d say we both have brilliant minds… in the heads of our other halves!”

“So not like Prague?” Julian asked.

“Just like Prague,” Dylan answered. “Only better.”


End file.
